Economists and other social scientists typically rely on gender differences in
the family-career balance, discrimination, and ability to explain gender gaps in wages
and in the prospect for advancement. A new explanation that has recently surfaced in the
economics literature is that men are more competitively inclined than women, and having
a successful career requires competitiveness. A natural question revolves around the
underlying determinants of these documented competitive differences: are women
simply born less competitive, or do they become so through the process of socialization?
To shed light on this issue, we compare the competitiveness of children in matrilineal and
patriarchal societies to show that the difference starts around puberty. Moreover, most of
the changes during this period of life are within the patriarchal society, in which
boys become more competitive with age while girls become less competitive.

Files in this item: 1

In this paper, we investigate the sorting of workers in rms to understand gender gaps in labor market outcomes. Using Danish employer-employee matched data, we find strong evidence of glass ceilings in certain firms, especially after motherhood, preventing women from climbing the career ladder and causing the most productive female workers to seek better jobs in more female-friendly firms in which they can pursue small career advancements. Nonetheless, gender differences in promotion persist and are found to be similar in all firms when we focus on large career advancements. These results provide evidence of the sticky floor hypothesis, which, together with the costs associated with changing employer, generates persistent gender gaps.

Files in this item: 1

This paper studies the link between a firms education level, export performance and wages of its workers. We argue that firms may escape intence competition in international markets by using high skilled workers to differentiate their products. This story is consistent with our empirical results. Osing a very rich matched worker-firm longitudinal dataset we find that firms with high export intensities pay higher wages. However, an interaction term between export intensity and skill intensity has a positive impact on wages and it absorbs the direct effect of the export intensity. That is, we find an export wage premium, but it accrues to workers in firms with high skill intensities.
Keywords: Exports, Wages, Human Capital, Rent Sharing, Matched Worker-Firm Data
JEL Classification: J30, F10, I20

This paper investigates the impact of globalization, in the sense of increasing international trade, on the demand for skills in Danish manufacturing companies. The study is based on a unique data set that enables us to develop rich measures of international outsourcing and import penetration. Moreover, the data also allows several strategies to strengthen the causal interpretation of our results. The main finding of the analysis is that it is of crucial importance to distinguish imports - both in the form of outsourcing and overall imports - by country-of-origin. We find that international trade with low-wage countries leads to skill-upgrading. This is especially pronounced for import penetration with a ceteris paribus contribution of around fifty percent to skill-upgrading. Moreover, we find that import penetration in goods originating from high-wage countries lead to skill-downgrading. This latter result suggests that Danish manufacturing has comparative advantage in skillintensive production when compared to low-wage countries, but in unskill-intensive production when compared to high-wage countries. Skill-upgrading, Low-wage country outsourcing, Low-wage country import penetration, Comparative advantage

Files in this item: 1

Based on diverse research methods, we trace and map industrial economics research in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the periode of 1880 to 1908. After describing this research in terms of key contributors, we argue that industrial economics developed rather unevenly in the Scandinavian countries. Danish research was mainly theoretical and strongly oriented towards the international context, whereas Norwegian research was largely industry analysis with a strong leaning towards managerial economics. Swedish research in industrial economics is very scant until the end of the 1960s.
JEL Code: B1, B2, B3, D2, D4, L1, L2, L4

Files in this item: 1

This paper develops a four sector equilibrium search and matching
model with informal sector employment opportunities and educational
choice. We show that underground activities reduce educational at-
tainments if informal employment opportunities mainly are available
to low educated workers. More zealous enforcement policy will in this
case improve educational incentives as it reduces the attractiveness of
remaining a low educated worker. Characterizing the optimal enforce-
ment policies, we nd that relatively more audits should be targeted
towards the sector employing low educated workers, elsewise a too low
stock of educated workers is materialized.

Files in this item: 1

In the economics literature, various views on the likely (efficiency) effects of information exchange,
communication between firms and market transparency present themselves. Often these views on
information flows are highly conflicting. On the one hand, it is argued that increased information
dissemination improves firm planning to the benefit of society (including customers) and/or allows
potential customers to make the right decisions given their preferences. On the other hand, the
literature also suggests that increased information dissemination can have significant coordinating or
collusive potential to the benefit of firms but at the expense of society at large (mainly, potential
customers). In this chapter, we try to make sense of these views, with the aim of presenting some
simple lessons for antitrust practice. In addition, the chapter presents some cases, from both sides of
the Atlantic, where informational issues have played a significant role.

Files in this item: 1

According to the Competition Act, a merger that impedes eective competition signi cantly, in particular by creating or strengthening a dominant postition, shall be prohibited. To decide whether this is the case the authorities need a quanti able model of the relationship between the variables that are directly aected by the merger and some measure of competition. In this paper we set up and calibrate a simple model of the interaction of the retail and the wholesale markets for high-end cosmetics in Denmark based on the Matas case. The model predicts that the acquisition of Matas - comprising roughly half of the market for high end cosmetics - may have a significant on retail prices and that the authorities had good reasons for making its approval conditioned on the removal of a number of contract-based barriers to entry. Analytically the main results are: (1) In a linear model with constant marginal costs the optimal wholesale prices are unexpected by the structure in the retail sector. (2) The ect on of buyer-power induced quantity dioscounts depends on the speci c design of the scheme: A relative discount on the list price the independent shops are charged increases the average retail price; A xed reduction relative to the pre-merger price reduces the average retail price). (3) Buyer-power induced retail price maintenance (RPM) increases the average retail price. RPM increases the competitiveness and pro ts of the merged shops if producers keep whole-sale prices unchanged. If, however, the producers adjust their wholesale prices, then RMP hurts merged and independent shops alike and benefits only the producers.

Files in this item: 1

Real income on Bornholm is described by comparing the region with the
capital area and the country. Region specific prices are constructed for housing
expenditure and for services. Weights for these parts of household budgets and the
residual are found from panel surveys of household consumption. Relative prices of
the consumption bundle for each year in the period 1987 to 1996 are found for both
those who own there dwelling and those who rent it. Median incomes for
entrepreneurs, employees and workers are constructed. Combining data on incomes
and on relative prices gives estimates of real incomes. The result is that households of
employed persons are relatively rich on Bornholm during the period.